Log in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Lost Password Recovery Form

If you have forgotten your username or password, you can request to have your username emailed to you and to reset your password. When you fill in your registered email address, you will be sent instructions on how to reset your password.

Bri in the sky: Hey Bri thanks so much for your support. It makes me happy to think I can give something back and help others. I can highly recommend doing Henry Yanís course if you ever get the chance.

I have been having to juggle work and art and sadly work was winning but I am fighting back for my art. Also I love all the changes to the new site but it has been making updating and browsing in general difficult for me even though I have a fairly new iMac.

Call0ps: Are my friend I did not ever expect to see you posting in my little sketchbook. Your words make me very happy though and you know I really appreciate all your help, support and encouragement.

Mike Butkus: Hey Mike thanks so much. It always mean so much to me when you stop by and makes me want to try even harder.

DefiledVisions: Hey Murli thanks for returning the favour, Henry Yan is amazing and I am very lucky to be able to go to these workshops. If you ever get the chance go to one, watching Henry draw really is magical.

Chronberg: Thanks Chronberg, I am glad to see you back and posting. I always enjoyed your work and really appreciate your feedback.

Black Spot: Hey, hey Blackie you know I really appreciate your feedback and all the time and help you put in here on the site. I was kinda hoping that we might all get to meet up again in the city for some sketching this year but I havenít heard anything yet.

Lavender Hill - Term 5
13.1.14

I have still been studying away although I havenít been able to post, so time to catch up. This is another attempt from last term. My original drawing from class was so wrong that I had another go at home from a photo I took. It still was wrong so I did an overlay and I am still working on it to see if I can improve and get more familiar with the method of working the charcoal on the Fabriano paper we use. I still find it quite tricky to handle.

You have some incredible work here. Going to really savor looking back through your sketchbook. I love to see the stages and the process you go through. Very helpful indeed.
I'm moving to the south of England in the summer so will definitely look into lavender hill studios.
Best
Scott

fatman274: Hey Scott thanks so much for your kind words. Iím not too sure whether you will want to savour anything looking back as I am very much a work in progress myself, but I appreciate you looking and I know I to like to see others stages and progress. I love going to Lavender Hill studios and it has been really good for me. When you do come south give them a call because they can arrange for you to go for a visit of the studios. Also give me a shout if you have any questions or would like to meet up for sketching.

No way, your sketchbook is so inspiring. Great to see the progression happening from page to page. Your combination of studies, experimentation and drawing from life has really paid off. That head study on your easel in post 422 is amazing. I find charcoal so difficult to handle but you nailed it.
Yep. I will miss Edinburgh but starting to get quite excited about moving south now. I found some interesting art groups in Brighton and the evening classes at Lavender Hill sound wonderful. Just gotta start saving

fatman274: Well thanks for looking so far back Scott I really do appreciate your feedback. I am still finding my way with charcoal especially in the technique used with the Fabriano paper at Lavender Hill. You do need to just be patient I think and of course practice loads.

I only visited Brighton myself for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Lots of interesting architecture to draw but probably not as good as Edinburgh. I am sure it will be a great experience. I hear you about the saving.

Istmin52: Hey Ian I was really pleased to see you back posting and all that you have achieved. Thanks so much for your feedback, I am glad you think my values are improving as I am still struggling to see and do this. Charcoal is something you learn to love over time I still struggle with it but you know me I relish the challenge and donít like to give up.

Lavender Hill - Term 5
27.1.14

So this is back from last term and it is still the same model that we have been drawing for all the other portraits that term. Viewers may find that hard to tell though! I am still finding it very challenging but this just makes me want to try harder. My teacher said to look at the shape of the chin and work up to get the top lip. This was a useful tip and something to remember for future use. I would like to do a comparison on this and rework it if I get time from a photo I took.

Bri in the sky: Thanks Bri hopefully I will have more time for posting now as I have quite a backlog of work from last term. I did get round to buying some nail polish remover which said acetone on it. I havenít had a chance to give it ago yet though. Hopefully I can make time in the not too distant future.

Lavender Hill - Term 5
3.2.14

My teacher got me to do a small thumbnail of the pose with just the basic outline, hip and shoulder line. This showed straight away were we had gone wrong with our drawing. I think it is a good idea to get a quick understanding of the pose and work out the largest shapes and proportions.

We started of with 20 min quick poses this week which I really enjoy doing. I wish I was able to do these from life a lot more as I think this is a step I really need to practice. Then we did a long pose but I didnít really like the pose as I couldnít see the legs and I wasnít really sure how to handle it. It was good practice though as it really made me think about what I was going to do. I was pleased with how I rendered the breasts as I often just make them look like round mounds!

This week's pose reminded me of Johannes Vermeer's painting - Girl with a pearl earring.
I really enjoyed having a go at drawing this one. I got of to a good start but lost it in the rendering again. It needs more work to soften the edges and turn the forms. One I must do a comparison of and a redraw sometime, I think.

For the last three weeks of term we were able to paint if we wanted to. I was really excited to try this as it has been over 2 years since my first attempt at portrait painting from a life model and I haven’t had the chance to paint much since. We spent the first week doing a grisaille.

I used raw umber mixed with solvent. Starting of by using a large brush to cover the canvas with paint and then wiping it of with a paper towel. This gives a nice toned background to work on. Then using a small brush I drew in the basic shapes and then blocked in with a larger brush. What I liked most was how fluid and easy it was to change things. I actually scrubbed off my first attempt and started again.

As our model was pregnant I wanted to try a 3/4 pose although this did prove very challenging due to the small size of the features on the head. My arm and hand was very trembly trying to paint small shadow shapes. Hopefully I will build up some muscle tone with practice as I really enjoyed doing this.

Week 1 - Grisaille

After a week our paintings were dry and we were supposed to start blocking in the colour. I didn’t actually end up doing much as I was a little overwhelmed in what to do and where to start. Luckily for me one of the student teachers came into paint and I spent the lesson watching him paint the portrait from beginning to end. It was a big help.

Studio set up

Week 2 - Starting to add colour

I felt a lot more confident in what I was going to do in the last week. I didn’t worry too much about exactly matching colour as I was working with a limited palette of Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, Ultramarine Blue, Ivory Black and Titanium White. Instead I focused on values just thinking of three, light , mid tone and dark. This really helped me. Our teacher had said to leave the turban to last as it would have changed as did the models clothes and had position so I didn’t worry too much about them.

I also learned that although I couldn’t match the colour of the turban that I could still use high chroma to get the effect. I had originally used too low chroma to paint it. Yet again I had a great time and it was a nice end of term even though I didn’t get to finish it.

Week 3 - Adding Colour

Week 3 - Photographed at the studio

Week3 - Photographed at home in daylight

I still have a lot to learn about how to photograph my work, so any tips or advice are welcome.

Great stuff Marian! Very nice of you to share your process as well. Learning things here :-)

"Less questions. More doing.
Learn by doing. Learn how to learn without asking a million questions. Learn to trust advice. Learn to go with your gut, to go on your own volition. Go. Do."
- Kev Ferrara
sketchbookblog